Skinning
Skinning allows players to gather leather, Hides and scales by skinning certain mobs (beasts, dragonkin, Silithid, and, very rarely, humanoids). Not all mobs of each type can be skinned, e.g. birds cannot be skinned despite being beasts. Leather, hides and scales are used for leatherworking. Leather is also used for some blacksmithing, engineering, and tailoring recipes. This is one of the better gathering professions, since a skinner can skin mob corpses left behind by other characters as long as they've looted all the items from the corpse. Unlike the mining or herb gathering, skinning allows very frequent practice when outdoor hunting resulting in a great deal of leather and very rapid training. You will typically be able to skin creatures much higher level than you can kill. Skinning Training * You need to purchase a skinning knife. You can find skinning knives at Profession-related item merchants (or simply at the General trader). Remember to keep the skinning knife in your bag at all times (if you want to gain leather/hides/scales from the beasts you kill) :). You do not need to equip it, and if you do it will not count as a weapon for the purposes of weapon-based abilities such as Raptor Strike. * The Artisan level of skinning does not have a level requirement, because my level 29 night elf hunter has already trained for artisan level skinning. * Also, keep in mind that skinning most beasts will result in you getting leather or hide of some kind. Some exceptions are sheep, which sometimes give you wool (which is used for First Aid and Tailoring, not Leatherworking), frenzy and other fish give you shiny fish scales, Dragonkin of various types (such as Black Whelps) which give you scales or special skins not found among other monsters or beasts, and the like. Such 'uncommon' skins generally only have specific recipes (such as the Black Whelp Skins, which has a recipe that needs to be obtained independently as it is not taught by trainers found in major cities). * The casting time for skinning a corpse increases with your level of training. Apprentice skinners only take 1 second to skin a rabbit, while Artisans take 3 seconds to skin that same rabbit. ThottBot Table reference Skinning past your skill level You can get enchants and certain weapons that can increase your skinning above your current skill level: * +5 Skinning: Enchant Gloves - Skinning * +10 Skinning: ** (τ) is a MH dagger that drops off The Beast in Upper Blackrock Spire at about a 7.7 - 9.8% rate (according to Thottbot). ** (τ) is a 1H sword that drops off High Priest Thekal in Zul'Gurub at about a 8-9% rate (according to Thottbot). The enchant and weapon combined give up to +15 skinning. Duel Wielding the two weapons above while wearing enchanted gloves gives skinning +25. Skinning Color Codes Any skinnable corpse will have a a color code on the "Skinnable" property when you move your pointer over it: * Red: Not skinnable. * Orange: Difficult to skin, may fail; Guaranteed chance of increasing Skinning skill level. * Yellow: Moderately difficult to skin, never fails; moderate chance of increasing Skinning skill level. * Green: Easy to skin, never fails; low chance of increasing Skinning skill level. * Gray: Very easy to skin, never fails; no chance of increasing Skinning skill level. Up to skinning 100, you can find out the highest level mob you can skin by: ((Skinning skill)/10)+10. From skinning level 100 and up the formula is simply: (Skinning skill)/5. Suggested 2nd Professions * Leatherworking. Make your own armor (Druid, Rogue, Hunter or Shaman; mail armor for hunters and shamans are available via the Dragonscale Leatherworking specialty), sell your wares, or get fodder for disenchanting. * Tailoring or Enchanting. It's good to have as a second profession for any that don't necessarily need another to work. As well, some Tailor recipes require leather, such as bags. * Mining or Herbalism. Having two gathering professions can ensure a strong income. Some people are willing to pay quite a bit of money for materials for crafting professions. Suggested Classes and Specialties Selling leather and hide can be profitable, but also useful if you take Leatherworking. All the classes listed here can wear leather armor. Leatherworking also produces Mail Armor items from scales obtained by skinning with attributes useful to hunters and shamans. There are three specialties of leatherworking which produce armor more suited for some classes than others: * Druid (Tribal Leatherworking or Elemental Leatherworking recommended) * Rogue (Elemental Leatherworking recommended) * Hunter (Dragonscale Leatherworking recommended) * Shaman (Dragonscale Leatherworking recommended) Note as of TBC anyone can learn the Tribal, Elemental, and Dragonscale patterns below 300. After 300, you must specialize to learn the proficiencies. What You Gather Leather In this sense, leather is collected by skinning beasts. These items can usually be used directly by the Leatherworking profession without prior processing or treatment. The type of leather is usually directly related to the level of animal being skinned. See: Leather for details. Hides You get hides the same way you get skins, but the drop rate is lower. All of the standard hides require Leatherworking to cure the hides before they can be used as ingredients for crafting items. See: Hide for details. Scales These are used in Leatherworking patterns and drop when certain mobs are skinned. Scales from high-level mobs are used to create Mail class armor with the Leatherworking skill which is useful for hunters and shamans at level 40 and beyond. See: Scale for details. Getting Started and Tips * Getting Started and Tips for Skinning * Frequently asked skinning Questions See Also WoW Forums Skinning FAQ Category:Skinning